The campus, built near the Shieldhall Sewage Works on Glasgow’s Southside, has been plagued with infection scandals since it opened in 2015 and is at the centre of a huge public inquiry where the scale of dirt and bird droppings was revealed.

Documents published by the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry looking into the QEUH’s construction reveal how:

* PEST control experts were called out 623 times between 2015 and 2021 to deal with dead birds, wasps, ants, cockroaches and other pests invading the site

* THREE more patients contracted infections from bird droppings but health chiefs dismissed the cases and claimed they’re not linked to the hospital’s pigeon problem

* ROTTING sponges and debris were found inside water tanks servicing the hospital and

* PRIORITISED environmental credentials over safety when the facility was built.

Anas Sarwar, Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, said: “These images are absolutely revolting and would be shameful anywhere but to see they are of the conditions at Scotland’s flagship hospital is even more damning.

“Every revelation about QEUH adds up to a deeply disturbing picture yet the Health Board leadership has continually attempted to frustrate the process to shed light on this scandal.

“Patients should be able to enter a hospital knowing they are entering a hygienic environment where they have the best chance of recovery, not somewhere plagued with flies, pigeons and other vermin.”

The inquiry, chaired by Lord Philip Brodie, pictured left, is investigating how patients, mainly children with cancer, contracted rare bugs while being treated. Some died with their loved ones believing their infections were linked to the building.

The new reports reveal the scale of the problem with birds and insects as NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s estates team tried to grapple with the pests.

Documents lay bare the hundreds of callouts to the facility while images show the mounds of bird faeces building up both inside and outside the hospital within months of it opening.

In March 2015 – four months before the QEUH officially opened – pest control firm GP Environmental advised hospital chiefs they’d need to install bird repellent spikes to stop pigeons roosting at the X-ray department.

THE FULL EXCLUSIVE STORY BY HANNAH RODGER IS IN THE SUNDAY MAIL